ACORN ‘gotcha’ man arrested in attempt to tamper with Mary Landrieu's office phones … Alleging a plot to tamper with phones in Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in downtown New Orleans, the FBI arrested four people Monday, including James O'Keefe …

Oregon voters pass tax increasing measures by big margin … Oregon voters bucked decades of anti-tax and anti-Salem sentiment Tuesday, raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to prevent further erosion of public schools and other state services.  —  The tax measures passed easily …

Democrats Put Lower Priority on Health Bill  —  WASHINGTON — With no clear path forward on major health care legislation, Democratic leaders in Congress effectively slammed the brakes on President Obama's top domestic priority on Tuesday, saying they no longer felt pressure to move quickly …

Book Report: ‘The Politician’ By Andrew Young  —  If Washington Wire readers are interested in reading Andrew Young's forthcoming tell-all on his decade behind the scenes with John Edwards, the story heats up on page 154 when Young begins to recount how the 2008 presidential hopeful …

Bringing Sexy Back  —  He's The One, all right.  —  The handsome, athletic pol with the comely wife and two lovely daughters who precipitously rose from the State Legislature to pull us all together.  —  The fresh face and disarming underdog America's been waiting for …

In Speech, Obama to Admit Missteps in First Year  —  WASHINGTON — For all the questions circulating in Democratic quarters as President Obama tries to weather the worst storm of his administration, perhaps none is as succinct as this: Are the missteps at the White House rooted in message or substance?

U.S. military teams, intelligence deeply involved in aiding Yemen on strikes  —  U.S. military teams and intelligence agencies are deeply involved in secret joint operations with Yemeni troops who in the past six weeks have killed scores of people, among them six of 15 top leaders …

Teleprompter Shot of the Day — By: Rich Lowry  —  Here's Obama dropping in for a chat with his middle-class task force.  And people made fun of Reagan because of his notecards!

Adults Only, Please  —  Maybe it's just me, but I've found the last few weeks in American politics particularly unnerving.  Our economy is still very fragile, yet you would never know that by the way the political class is acting.  We're like a patient that just got out of intensive care …

Salt Lake County GOP cancels keynote address after New Orleans arrest  —  Plan B » Party's big annual fundraiser will find new featured speaker instead of O'Keefe.  —  Salt Lake County Republicans are scrambling to line up a new keynote fundraising speaker after the arrest Tuesday …

'I'm Ellie Light,' California man says: Obama letter writer talks … WASHINGTON — Ellie Light, the ubiquitous letter writer whose name appeared in newspapers nationwide praising President Barack Obama, appears to really be a male health care worker from California.

After Three Months, Only 35 Subscriptions for Newsday's Web Site  —  In late October, Newsday, the Long Island daily that the Dolans bought for $650 million, put its web site, newsday.com, behind a pay wall.  The paper was one of the first non-business newspapers to take the plunge by putting up a pay wall …

Republican Leads In Florida Governor's Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Say Yes To Oil Drilling, No To Haitians  —  Florida voters support State Attorney General Bill McCollum's promise to challenge the constitutionality of any federal health care bill that forces people …

Two at Fed Had Doubts Over Payout by A.I.G.  —  Weeks after rescuing the American International Group with an $85 billion taxpayer loan in late 2008, Federal Reserve Board officials rejected a proposal that would have forced the insurer's trading partners to return $30 billion in cash …

NPR Poll Shows Vulnerability Of Obama, Democrats … text sizeAAA  —  Wednesday night's State of the Union speech is an opportunity for President Obama to reconnect to voters who are frustrated about the state of the economy and the progress he's been making toward fulfilling his campaign promises.

Budget sanity  —  THE OBAMA administration estimates that the selective spending freeze it will propose next week would save $10 billion to $15 billion in fiscal 2011, which begins Oct. 1.  By comparison, just the interest on its debt will cost the government $207 billion in the same year and …

Waiting for Barack  —  Every Hill office I've spoken to in the past week has had the same complaint.  “Where,” they ask, “is the White House?”  —  There's been no clear message on the way forward for health-care reform.  No clear articulation of preferences.  No public leadership to speak of.